Every brand knows the importance of a strong SEO strategy online, but as Facebook remains the social network of choice, should brands be applying the same processes to their Facebook pages?

In a word, yes. This has been reinforced by a recent study conducted by SEO software firm BrightEdge, which found that while nearly all major brands ensure that their web pages incorporate search engine tactics (at least to some degree), “only 30 percent incorporate that same logic into their Facebook pages.” The company found while the web sites of the top 200 brands showed at or near the top of Google search results for their names, 70 percent didn’t have their Facebook or Twitter pages in the top 20 results.

Google believes that its new +1 feature, the search giant’s equivalent to Facebook’s Like button, will drive more qualified traffic to advertisers’ websites and could increase the overall click through rate (CTR) as +1 annotations increase over time, reports ClickZ.

The feature, which enables users to click to recommend search results and ads, will only be available to users that are signed into their Google account. Vice president of media strategy at Klick Communications Julie Batten outlines what the new feature means for advertisers:

1) What Does This Mean for Organic Rankings?
Google believes the +1 button will help them provide more relevant results to its users, and plans to use the information derived from the feature to help optimize its organic rankings. “Clearly,” notes Batten, “the amount that your site is “+1′d” could potentially have a significant impact on your search rankings.”

2) So How Do Sites Get “+1′d”?
Advertisers need to do three things: optimize their sponsored search user experience as much as possible, for example, being able to deliver on a query that someone searches for both within your ad copy and the landing page you drive to. Make sure that content is relevant and compelling—that visitors will recommend it to their friends. Finally, try to make your offering stand out from the competition and maximize positive customer experiences.

3) How Trackable Are +1s?
No reporting is currently available, though Google promises this will soon be available within an advertisers Google AdWords account under the Dimensions tab.

So what’s the end result? It looks Google’s +1 will be another tool in the social bookmarking arsenal. But will it become a a key weapon, or an also-ran to Facebook’s omnipresent Like button? Watch this space.

It has always been assumed that consumers use mobile devices when they are on the go and mobile content and marketing has always been created around that assumption. But according to a new report on mobile search from marketing agency Performics, people are increasingly using their smartphones and conducting mobile searches at home, even while other devices are being used, such as watching TV or even more surprisingly, when using a computer. The report should be a wake up call for marketers that that mobile should clearly be an integral part of their SEO and social campaign strategy.

The Performics report — conducted in February with 502 respondents — backs up recent studies by Yahoo and InsightExpress that claim the same thing. The respondents, who were chosen from a much larger pool, were required to “access the mobile web at least once a week and have used mobile search one or more times in the past month.”

Here are some interesting mobile search stats from the report:

• 42 percent of respondents reported using their phones to conduct mobile searches “frequently” at home in the evening to conduct mobile searches.
• 42 percent of respondents reported using their phones to conduct mobile searches “frequently” at home on the weekends to conduct mobile searches.
• 27 percent of respondents reported using their phones to conduct mobile searches “frequently” while watching TV.
• 19 percent of respondents reported using their phones to conduct mobile searches “frequently” while sitting in front of the computer.

As Search Engine Land reports, “While some of the findings seem counter-intuitive, and may complicate life somewhat for digital marketing, they may also be an opportunity to generate more immediate response to ads and conversions, especially if calls are involved.” Read the complete Search Engine Land article.